The rest of our journey was relatively boring. We did have to sneak around some soldiers and that was it. I was happy not to run across another battlefield; nor did we run into any scary monsters. There were a few monsters that were easily taken care of.

  Two months had passed, and we were close to the rendezvous. Once I realized we were close, I became extra alert. I wasn’t worried about monsters. I was worried about the enemy. If we were spotted by any scouts, they would come question us, and if they never returned to base, then the encampment would be on high alert.

  If things went as I hoped, we would be able to sneak into the camp, kill anyone in the way, and rescue the prisoners. If I was lucky, my family would be here, along with Renna’s. We could use the extra help, and Damon would be a strong asset to rescuing the other prisoners.

  We were walking through a forest. The ground was full of twigs, making it nearly impossible to avoid making any noise as we walked. The leaves on the trees were starting to turn as fall was coming upon us. It wouldn’t be long until all these trees were barren, until spring when the leaves came back.

  Arsted stopped and looked up in the trees, causing the rest of us to do the same thing. The leaves made it difficult to see anything. “Come out,” he said.

  “You’ve got a good eye,” Darrow said, and he hopped out of the tree. “Glad to see the five of you make it in one piece.”

  “Are we the last to arrive?” I asked.

  “Nah, we still have two groups unaccounted for,” Darrow said. Despite those words, he was grinning. “How did your journey go?”

  “Not bad. Worst thing we ran into were some monsters,” I said.

  “That was the same for us all,” Darrow said. “Draven, I could use your help healing some people.”

  “Happy to help,” Draven said.

  “When will we rescue the prisoners?” I asked.

  “If the rest of our group doesn’t arrive in a week, we’ll make our move.”

  “But we’re missing ten people. Won’t that hurt us?” Renna asked.

  “This place isn’t heavily guarded. I got here a couple of weeks ago. There are at most thirty guards.”

  Normally, having less soldiers than the enemy would worry me. We had Arsted and a couple of mages. The guards likely had a couple of mages as well, but I doubted they would pose a threat. If there were as few prisoners as Darrow said, there would be no reason to use skilled guards or mages.

  That’s what I told myself. Hopefully I was right. Since leaving Alcion, Most melee fighters I had seen were untrained, which made sense. Most people didn’t have access to a trainer, much like how most people don’t have access to books to learn magic. I was fortunate to have been born with a family who made enough money off adventuring to own books, all in preparation to train their children when they were older.

  I needed to get my family back. The thought of Talia, Zena, and yes, even Damon gave me the motivation to do whatever it took to rescue them. I could only hope I was strong enough.

  “Let’s go to where the others are. Tomorrow, I’ll show you the camp so you can make your own judgements,” Darrow said.

  “Sounds good to me,” Renna said.

  I said nothing and followed. I looked over the hill, as somewhere past it lay the encampment. The odds of anyone from my family being here were small. That didn’t mean I wasn’t going to try my best to save the prisoners, this was only the first step.

  Two days after we arrived, another group of five showed up. Three days after that was when the last one arrived. That would give us the numbers advantage and with Arsted, we should have no problem dealing with the guards.

  The odds were good the guards would retreat before they lost too many. An army always breaks when they realize there is no chance of victory, well, most armies. Some could be stubborn and fight until the bitter end. I didn’t think that would be the case here. Who would want to fight to the death for prisoners?

  The day after the last group arrived, we set out for the encampment. It was time to rescue the prisoners and get them back to Alcion.

  The group split in two. My group was led by Darrow, and we were going to attack the front, while the other group approached from the back side. The second group would be the one securing the prisoners. Darrow explained to us that this would make it tougher for the guards to take any hostages.

  Another thing going in our favor was that the encampment had no walls. It was wide open, with a few houses. In my look upon the encampment, there were two houses built where the guards stayed. The prisoners were taken to a large barn, where they were shut in and heavily guarded. Sentries were posted on the outskirts of the prison.

  It was the crack of dawn. The sun had barely begun to rise. “It’s time.” Darrow took out his sword and turned to the rest of us. “Kill anyone who gets in your way. We don’t have the luxury of taking prisoners. Now, let’s go!”

  To my surprise, Darrow was the one to lead the charge. We all ran after him, running down the hill at full speed. I was being left in the dust, as my tiny legs could only go so fast. Renna wasn’t having any issues keeping up with the others. The aura a melee fighter got contributed so much to their speed and strength, it made me jealous I didn’t have access to it.

  Darrow barely ran out of the forest when a horn blew. Thus far, things were going as planned. The guards should be rushing toward us while the other group waited a little longer before going in from behind. I activated analysis.

  A glimmer in the sky caught my eye. I quickly realized it was a bunch of arrows. I raised my hand and blasted the arrows aside with air. The arrows scattered, missing everyone. This was my first time seeing an archer. To be honest I’d thought with magic being a thing that there weren’t archers. Looks like I was wrong.

  Not far from us were the guards, they were all armed with swords. Six of them had bows and all of them were drawn back. There was something different about the arrows, I could see a small glow, even from this distance. Didn’t take a genius to realize these arrows were imbued with magic.

  The archers loosed. Their arrows coming much faster than last time. I was too far behind to help with this round as everyone was in front of me. Arsted increased his speed and was able to knock aside four of the arrows. The other two weren’t anywhere near him and one shot straight through one of the mercenaries’ chests and landed and landed in the ground behind him. The other arrow was knocked aside by Renna, who saved one of the mercenaries.

  With us getting close to the guards, the six archers threw their bows aside and took out their swords. Arsted and Renna were leading the charge. I watched as a guard raised his sword at Renna, who increased her speed far beyond what she should be able to and took off the guard’s arm. She pivoted and thrust her sword into his back.

  Already using her sword’s ability, careless. I couldn’t help thinking: if someone strong showed up, she only had two more uses and the last one would render her useless afterward.

  Renna blocked a slash to her head, then ducked a slash. Her sword connected with the guard’s gut, and he collapsed. Arsted ran ahead of her, right toward four guards. They raised their swords and could do nothing as Arsted struck the first guard, shattering sword and chest alike. Before the other guards could react, he cut another in half, then swung his blade up and nearly split a head clean in two. The last guard could only gasp and then his head went flying off.

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  The rest of us made it and began engaging the guards. Except for me, there wasn’t much of a reason for me to fight just yet. Not that I let down my guard, only a fool would do that in the midst of a battle.

  “Arsted, there are guards running toward the west, can you go take care of them?” Darrow said.

  “On it,” Arsted said and ran toward the fleeing guards.

  “The rest of you, keep moving forward!” Darrow shouted.

  I was surprised the rest of the guards hadn’t retreated by now. Especially since the second group should be rescuing the prisoners right about now. Something wasn’t right and I didn’t like it.

  “Ahh!” someone screamed as his upper torso went flying over my head. I looked in front of me to see three more mercenaries cut down by a single swordsman. His blade was curved, and he was quick. Two mercenaries ran at him, and he killed both with a single strike. Both the mercenaries’ chests split open, with blood spraying out of them as they collapsed.

  This was my chance. I created five stone bullets and launched them at him. The swordsman sensed the attacks coming and intercepted all five with incredible speed. There was nothing but dust left of my stone bullets. He looked right at me.

  “A child?” he said in disbelief. He didn’t get to say much else before Renna came rushing at him from his right side. He quickly blocked her strike and went to kick her, but hit air as she jumped back, then forward again.

  Their blades met once, twice, then Renna’s buff from her sword wore off and his boot connected with her chest, sending her tumbling back. “Two children? What is this world coming to?” the swordsman muttered.

  That didn’t stop him from going after Renna. She was back on her feet, and he was on top of her in the blink of an eye. His sword came crashing down upon hers. She raised hers in time to protect her head.

  I launched two stone bullets and summoned earth spikes at the same time. The swordsman ducked the stone bullets and twisted his body to avoid an earth spike, then jumped forward, his shoulder slamming into Renna’s chest.

  My body froze as I watched the swordsman raise his blade once again and Renna’s sword had flung out of her hand. There was no way I could launch a spell fast enough to stop him. As his blade went down, another sword intercepted it, saving Renna’s life.

  It was Darrow. He launched a ferocious assault. I noticed his blade glowing red. The swordsman was forced onto the defensive, blocking each attack. I noticed steam was coming off Darrow’s blade and sparks flashed each time their swords connected.

  I moved away from the stone bullets and summoned a ball of water. I launched the water behind the swordsman and turned it into ice, right when he took his step. This caused him to lose his balance. Darrow used that opportunity to strike as hard as he could. The swordsman raised his blade and there was a ching right as the swordsman blade was cut in half. The edge of Darrow’s sword lightly cut the enemy’s shoulder.

  I smelled burnt flesh at that moment. The swordsman didn’t so much as scream, he grabbed Darrow’s wrist and kicked him as hard as he could in the stomach. Darrow doubled over, which was when Renna came rushing in.

  The swordsman was dodging each of her strikes and grabbed a sword from the ground. Darrow was back on his feet and joined Renna, the both of them attacking the swordsman with all they had. Things were looking good, and I was beginning to think I should help finish off the guards.

  As I turned to see how the rest of the battle was going, I watched as the swordsman deflected Renna’s strike, then ducked Darrow’s and slashed upwards. Darrow tried to jump back but couldn’t completely avoid the blade as it slid into his rips and up toward his left shoulder.

  I quickly launched fireballs at the swordsman, diverting his attention. The swordsman batted the flames aside like they were baseballs. He ignored Renna and charged right at me. I had never been more thankful for Bastian showing me analysis than I did now. I was able to follow his movements as he closed the distance. I created two balls of fire, with a stone bullet in each. I launched them at him while using the earth beneath me to throw myself in the air.

  Once the swordsman raised his blade to deflect the fireballs, I launched the stone bullets. The swordsman didn’t have enough time to act, he was caught off guard, yet he was able to dodge the first stone bullet by mere inches. He wasn’t able to dodge the second, which connected with his right hand. His hand burst, leaving only a bloody stump as his sword crashed to the ground.

  I’ve got him! I couldn’t help thinking and fired a volley of icicles at him. The Swordsman managed to dodge the icicles, and I landed on my feet, ten or so feet away from him. Then my vision blurred. A raging fire of pain exploded from my left side. I looked down to see a knife buried hilt deep in my left rib cage.

  “Thorian, watch out!” Renna yelled, kicking me in the side just as the swordsman’s blade missed where I’d been a second earlier.

  I couldn’t stop myself from grimacing as I rolled on the ground. Blood flung out of me and when I finally stopped, I found it difficult to breathe. I wanted to take the knife out and heal myself, but the swordsman wasn’t going to let me. I watched as he ignored Renna once again and rushed me.

  Ignoring the pain, I put both my hands on the ground and the ground in front of me began to explode, creating not only dust, but sending rocks at the swordsman. The swordsman looked surprised. He was forced to stop and jump backward, which was exactly what I’d hoped would happen.

  Renna activated her sword ability and jumped forward. The swordsman couldn’t pivot fast enough as her blade tore into his back, her sword protruding through his belly as they both crashed into the ground. Renna lost grip of her sword and rolled a few feet away from the swordsman, who miraculously stood. Blood was pouring out of his stomach, and he grabbed the blade and yanked it out of him.

  “To think… Beaten by mere… Children,” he said and coughed up blood.

  “Yes, you were,” I said, then launched a stonebullet. There was nothing the man could do. The stone bullet blasted through the air and connected with the left side of his chest, creating a hole where his heart was. The swordsman fell to his knees, a look of disbelief on his face before landing on his face. Blood pooled around his dead body.

  “Renna,” I went to walk forward and nearly fell as my left rib cage screamed with pain. I grabbed the knife and yanked it out. Now, this normally would be stupid. If magic healing didn’t exist, I would have left it in there until I got to a healer. Blood began pooling out of the wound. I cast the healing spell on myself.

  The wound began to close. The bleeding stopped and the flaming pain got weaker and weaker, eventually going from a dull pain to nothing.

  Now that I was healed, I ran toward Renna, who was lying on her back, not moving. “Renna!” I said and crouched next to her. There was a knife in her stomach, one I never saw hit her. Since she’d used her magics ability three times, that drained all her energy, her face was pale.

  Without waiting for a response, I yanked the knife out of her stomach and healed her. Renna’s face regained its color, though she looked exhausted when she looked at me. “T-Thanks, Thorian,” she said.

  “No problem,” I looked over to see Darrow coming my way. He looked like he was in bad shape. The swordsman had gotten a nice slash, and he looked to be in pain. “I’ll be right back.”

  I ran over to Darrow and healed his injuries. Darrow shook his head once he was fully healed. “Thanks, Thorian, I owe you one.”

  “No, if not for you and Renna, we wouldn’t have been able to beat him.”

  “You know, for a kid your age… You’d think you would brag about your strength,” Darrow chuckled as he said this.

  Even if other kids would be excited about killing a skilled swordsman, I didn’t think Renna would be boasting about winning. It did feel good to win that battle and I couldn’t help being thankful to still be alive.

  We walked over to Renna, who I helped up. She was quickly regaining her ability to move now that her injuries were healed. After a few minutes, she pushed me off and started walking on her own. The battle was over. Once that skilled swordsman was killed, the rest of the guards ran for their lives.

  What became of them was one I didn’t care to ask about. Letting the guards run free would cause us problems since they would get reinforcements and try to chase us down. It was best not to think of what we would do if that happened.

  “Thorian, Renna,” Arsted said, appearing out of nowhere and I am pretty sure I saw a look of concern flash across his face for a split second. It might have been my imagination though. “I’m sorry I couldn’t get here sooner.”

  “Don’t worry about it, we won!” I said.

  “Yeah, what Thorian said,” Renna stood up straighter. “We fought a strong opponent and won without you. So, you have no need to apologize!”

  Arsted smiled and patted her head. “True, you both fought well. The prisoners have been rescued; I’ll take you to them.”

  My heart started pounding. This was a moment of truth for me. Was my family part of these prisoners? I knew the chances weren’t likely, yet I couldn’t help hoping.

  The aftermath of the battle was something else. I saw a lot of dead guards, along with some mercenaries. How many died rescuing the prisoners? Despite this victory, I couldn’t help feeling bad for the dead. Their families would mourn them. Not something a kid would normally think about.

  Arsted led the way, and we stepped over a couple of bodies before we made it to the rescued prisoners. There weren’t many, maybe thirty or so people and I didn’t see anyone from my family. Renna bolted forward and it took me a moment to realize her parents were here.

  I was happy for her. She looked genuinely happy as she hugged her parents tightly. Her father and mother were crying as they hugged Renna. At least someone was reunited. A thought came to me.

  Was Renna going to go back to Alcion with her parents? I wouldn’t blame her if she did, and I wasn’t going to try stopping her. I would not be going back until the other prisoners were saved, no matter what. I guess time would tell. We still had a long journey to get back to Starcrest after all.